Slow Designs
by jp28
Summary: Jay, a seventh year Gryffindor, finds his final year is more complex than just a football tournament, surviving NEWTS and chasing the mysterious girl he's fallen for…Dark events hint at a bleak future ahead, and Jay and his friends must seek the birthplace of magic itself. OCxOC TeddyxVictoire. Post-DH, slightly AU, Rated M for language, sex and violence
1. Chapter 1 Prologue

Slow Designs

_A/N: Jay Lysander, a seventh year Gryffindor, finds that his final terms at Hogwarts are more complicated than just a football tournament commemorating the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, surviving NEWTS and chasing the mysterious girl he's fallen for but has never spoken to…Grisly, dark events hint at a bleak future ahead, and Jay and his friends must seek the birthplace of magic itself in order to determine whether they are at the will of a grim fate._

_First, a disclaimer – I do not claim to own any of the characters or locations created by J.K. Rowling, nor any of the music titles or lyric quotes used throughout this project, nor National Geographic, Walking with Dinosaurs, Facebook, Question Time, Dorling-Kindersley…Any other necessary disclaimers will be posted before relevant chapters._

_It is post-Deathly Hallows and takes place in 2015; mostly canon, only ret-cons/AU changes are that Victoire and Teddy are in the same year group and that the HP7 Epilogue occurs in 2015, not 2017. Rated M for a reason, there will be swearing (I'm English, it's second-nature), violence and sex, but hopefully not unnecessarily gratuitous!_

_Most chapters will only be 1000-3000 words but I'll be updating regularly._

Prologue: _Two Christmas Dinners a Year_

Jay Lysander couldn't sleep. He often couldn't sleep the night before he returned to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, even though he'd experienced it six times before. Perhaps it had been the heat – despite London's reputation for miserable, wet summers that rarely aided plans for mid-July barbecues, early September always seemed to carry on a bit of Augusts sunshine and light haze. At any rate, Jay flipped his pillow over to feel the fast-fleeting comfort of the 'colder side' and pulled his quilt off his body, so that he was exposed to his bedroom.

But it was no use. Still rather uncomfortable, and not tired in the slightest, Jay sighed and pushed himself out of bed. His bedroom at his dad's house was much the same as it had been since he was ten. Now seventeen, he seemed laughably out of place. Toy dinosaurs and James Bond cars were piled neatly into a plastic box in the corner of the room, next to a bookshelf, which, admittedly held some normal, adult content like _National Geographic _and David Attenborough's autobiography – but in the main, it was unmistakably a kids bookshelf, with Dorling-Kindersley guides to Vikings and Horrible Histories on Greeks and the _Walking with Dinosaurs _sticker collection.

His blue curtains, still adorned with dolphins, as they'd been since a trip to Spain allowed him to see some at the age of seven, were drawn, but the ever-present light from the lamppost annoyingly opposite from his bedroom flooded his room with an eerie, ethereal cobalt. Jay crossed his room, careful not to trip on the bags he had packed for tomorrow, but in the low light, he stubbed his toe on his heavy kettle bell and stumbled into his own shut door.

"Bastard." he swore, leaning down to massage the injured appendage. When he was quite sure it wouldn't fall off, he opened his door onto his landing and crept down the stairs. The echoing of polite laughter and applause filled the downstairs; no doubt his dad had fallen asleep in front of the TV again after the news and now _Question Time _was on. But as he reached the bottom of the stairs, he recoiled when his dad's voice cut through the quiet.

"Jay? You're still up?" the grogginess in his voice made Jay think his father had definitely been more successful in sleeping than he had.

"Yeah, couldn't sleep." Jay shuffled into the front room and plonked down onto the couch next to his dad.

"Hm. Well, you're all packed? Haven't left anything behind? Got all your medicines?" his dad asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Yup, double – in fact, _tripled_ checked before I went to bed." Jay confirmed, recalling his fourth year when he'd left two required books and his robes behind at home.

"Okay. And you're sure you don't want me to drop you at the station? It's no trouble, I have to go in to the office at some point tomorrow anyway…" he offered lazily, but Jay shook his head.

"No, it's fine. I'll just get the DLR and then the underground to King's Cross."

His dad was a muggle, and had never quite gotten to grips with the magical world that secretly surrounded his own, normal universe and it would the height of awkward for him to watch Jay disappear through the Platform dividing column. Jay supposed he was informed of it when he and Jay's mum, he thought with a shudder, started dating. He must've been fine with it, because two years later they married.

His mum was Portuguese by descent, though raised in England, and when they divorced six years ago, she split her time between London and Lisbon. That meant Jay often found himself travelling between places over holidays – his dad's in Canary Wharf, his mum's in Harrow and his grandma's in Lisbon. It was worth it, of course – Jay vaguely remembered how bad they were as a couple when he was young, always arguing, shouting, bickering. He often wondered how they fell for each other in the first place, so incompatible they seemed.

He and his older sisters, Anna and Laura, did find _some_ profit from all the messy divorce years – two Christmas dinners a year (one at with his dads side of the family and another on Boxing Day with his mums) was a good enough start, let alone having twice the presents (Birthdays too) received than normal. Distant relatives would often corner one of the three siblings to explain how sorry they were his parents weren't together and that they hoped they were coping okay.

But it had been fine. Jay couldn't have imagined his childhood and adolescence any different. He only now worried his own future marriages might wind up the same way. Studying his dad as he finally turned off the TV and made to head upstairs, he wondered if he too had no inkling his romantic life would spiral as it did.

"Goodnight Jay. Goodnight Laura!" he shouted, successfully rousing his neighbour's dog so that a minuscule bark could be heard through the wall.

"Goodnight, dad." Jay returned, himself heading upstairs too. Before his own bedroom, he could see light from underneath his sister's room. Anna, now twenty four, had moved out to central London to be nearer her job, so it meant that Laura was awake.

"Alright weirdo." she greeted him casually as he entered her room. It was oddly barren, with things packed into boxes and nothing remaining on shelves or nightstands anymore. She was sprawled across her bed, illuminated by her laptop next to her head.

"Fine thanks, twat." Jay responded, collapsing on the foot of her bed. He scanned the boxes. "Nervous about uni?"

"No, 'course not you mental, I'm excited!" she said, not looking up from Facebook. Ever the extroverted middle-child, Laura would never suffer the same nervous trepidation his eldest sister Anna did about university. As usual, with him being the youngest, by the time he reached it, I t would no longer be of much interest. "What about you? Excited to go back to freak school?"

His sisters had not inherited his mother's magic. It didn't seem to bother them much. "Yeah." he sighed.

"What?"

"It's just…final year. For one thing, if the workload is _worse_ than last year, it'll be such a massive ball-ache. And then there's Teddy and Victoire." he stopped. How much did things change when two of your three best friends declared undying love for each other?

"What about them?"

"They're now a couple. A proper one. Full on boyfriend and girlfriend. I mean, took 'em long enough but still, can't make things easier this year can it? For our group of friends, I mean."

"Teddy's the one with blue hair, right?"

Jay nodded.

"And Victoire's the one you fancy?"

"No, Victoire's the one _everyone_ fancies because she's part Vee- the 'fit people' I told you about ages ago…?" Jay sighed, feigning exasperation.

Laura shrugged. "Why don't you just magic yourself a girlfriend?" she offered, grinning. "Then you wouldn't be such a lonely saddo."

Jay shook his head. "I don't need magic to get someone, unlike you perhaps. But that's not the point-"

"Well, it would help when they do couple-y-things, you could go off and do the same elsewhere."

Jay thought back to fourth and fifth year when he too had his first proper girlfriend. Kara Pennyworth, the pretty blonde Ravenclaw. She had been pretty much his first…_everything_. And it had definitely helped; when Teddy and Victoire had their frequent bouts of unreleased-sexual-tension-arguments, Jay and Kara would sneak off to some unbidden corner of the grounds…But by the time they reached the summer before sixth year started, they had realised neither had really had their heart set on each other anymore. Kara, like most girls, had developed a crush on Jay's other best mate, Nick Dawe – though she at least had the decency and tact not to act on it. Not yet, at least.

And Jay had developed what Victoire coined "the saddest crush of all time" on the 'Unknown Girl', or 'UG'. Jay had to admit, it was fairly stupid. UG was a student, though Jay didn't know what house, or year, or classes, or social group she was in…but whenever Jay caught sight of her, he seemed to freeze, like a rabbit caught in headlights. Mysteriously, he had never spotted her with his friends, so he had no idea who she was, and nor did they. And far be it from him to muster the courage to actually _ask her out._ That'd be the day.

"Daydreaming about some poor girl somewhere?" Laura woke him from his reverie.

"No." Jay mumbled, checking his mobile to unsuccessfully detract attention.

"Speaking of," Laura continued, tapping away at her keyboard as she spoke, "how come we've never met your current or past girlfriends? Embarrassed of them?"

Jay snorted. "Embarrassed of you, more like. But you know me, separation of church and state. Just the way of the world, unfortunately for you." he finished coolly, rising to leave. "Well anyway, sis, have fun at uni. Don't get too hammered like normal, I won't be there to rescue you from the dodgy nightclubs like this summer."

"I seem to recall you were only at that club because you and your own friends were on a bit of bender! But anyway, thanks little bro. Have fun at Pigspots or whatever it is – I won't be up by the time you've left, but I'll message you tomorrow afternoon or something. Goodnight!"

Jay returned to his room and collapsed onto his bed. He felt slightly better having thought about seeing his friends – maybe even the elusive Unknown Girl – tomorrow. Besides, living and studying with magic wasn't a hard – or at least, boring, life. He turned onto his side. The low light that swept in through his curtains was just strong enough to illuminate his poster of Jordan Henderson, Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling on his far wall.

"You guys better not let me down tomorrow." he mumbled, eyes finally feeling heavy. It took a lot to put a football match into the category of second most important thing of the next day, but his final first day at Hogwarts was definitely that.


	2. Chapter 2 Last First Day

Chapter 1 – Last First Day

As much as Jay had not wanted to be a part of the inevitable awkward scene where his dad, having dropped him off at King's Cross, watched him disappear through a set of bricks, as he struggled out of the Jubilee Line with his bags, he half wished he'd taken him up on the offer.

He felt the temperature on his neck rise when a pretty girl, with silken, ebony skin and a shimmering nose piercing watched him stumble with his belongings, and, muttering curses, he finally arrived at Kings Cross. He had luckily timed his commute perfectly, however, and was in no hurry to board once he had crossed onto Platform 9 ¾. Instead, he waited for his friends to meet at the usual spot – under the second sign along the platform indicating the red steam engine was indeed the train to Hogwarts.

As expected, Victoire was first to join him. Tall and elegant and beautiful, she could have been a 1940's starlet in a black and white film. Perfectly in control of her mountain of cases and bags, she beamed a smile and embraced him.

"God, it's so good to see you! Well, it's good to see someone who _isn't _a bloody tosser at any rate." she sighed, straightening an already perfect strand of hair amongst the thousands of glorious, silvery-blonde others that flowed down to her midriff.

"What's he done now?" Jay grinned.

"He's just metamorphosing for these stupid little fourth years!" She imitated the girly giggles no doubt being elicited by Teddy Lupin and then rolled her eyes. "If he thinks he's gonna be in my good books any time soon, he's got another thing coming. Anyway, enough about him. So happy we're back together, I missed you guys!" she chirped, embracing him in another hug.

For Jay's 'first day at Hogwarts' over the years, her Veela charm had hit him with full force, as she explained the effect of it wore off after time spent together. Now, he was more used to it, but still flinched when a smooth voice interrupted their embrace.

"Sick of chasing Unknown Girl so you decided to steal mine. I expected better of you, Lysander." Jay looked over Victoire to see Teddy leaning against a wall, hair blue as a summer sky. Ever well-presented, Teddy's confidence and charm seemed to make him taller than he was, even though he was a good inch shorter than Jay.

"Ah, Lupin, we meet again. She's professed her secret feelings for me and we're madly in love. I'll have to duel you for her!"Jay whipped out his wand, spinning Victoire under his arm and feigning firing a hex at Teddy, who grinned, also pulling out his wand.

Victoire sighed. "You two are such children."

Jay and Teddy embraced gruffly and slightly awkwardly, as was routine now after seven years.

"How was your summer?" Lupin asked, stowing his wand back in his robes and picking up his bags to board the train.

"Same old same old. Weather in Portugal was good, but it was a bit dull – my friends from home went on holiday to Brazil for the summer so it was basically just me at home working." Jay shrugged, following Teddy and Victoire toward the train doors.

"Hmm. Didn't bed any unfortunate ladies?" Teddy grinned.

Victoire hit him in the arm, causing him to drop a bag. "For god's sake, Teddy, you are such a man whore. I hope you didn't used to be like that when we weren't together – did he Jay?"

"No, no, Edward Lupin has, since I have known him, always been an utmost gentleman who has only ever treated women with the respect they deserve. That _was_ the line you taught me, right Ted?" Jay laughed as Victoire scowled at the two of them, whilst Teddy looked helpless.

They had stowed their bags in a compartment and were about to discuss where Nick was when there was a shout and general commotion from the platform. All three of them jumped back out of the train to see what was happening, but a great many others had done so, and Jay could barely make out Marcus Barton, a seventh year Slytherin, and his father shouting at the homely old witch who served the Hogwarts Express with sweets from her trolley.

"This miserable old bint just ran over my foot with her dirty cart!"Barton shouted, thin, long dyed-grey hair framing his angular features.

His father, a spitting image of his son and no doubt a carbon-copy of what Marcus would look like in thirty years, seemed calmer but bored a deep glare into the witch, who was apologising furiously, face red with embarrassment. "Settle down, Marcus. You'll have to excuse this woman, she clearly hasn't dealt with peoples of our calibre, she must be used to this _rabble_ that Hogwarts now accepts."

"That guy is such a massive bell end." stated Teddy, prompting nods from Jay and Victoire.

The witch scurried off with more apologies and Marcus boarded the train further down, no doubt to join his other Slytherin friends. "I hope he fails his bloody NEWTS, that'd teach him a thing or two about humility." Victoire hissed, but Jay barely heard.

As the crowd had dispersed, Jay caught sight of that rarest and most joyous sight – Unknown Girl. She was on the end of a line of three girls. The other two were chatting away, but she seemed to not be listening. Jay didn't blame her – it surely took massive concentration to look so serene, so composed, so angelic. Her long, brown hair was lightly waved down to her elbows and it bounced gently as she walked. Sea grey eyes stared determinedly ahead. Her soft, smooth skin had gained a few more freckles over summer around her small, button nose. Jay wondered briefly and blissfully if she had picked those up on holiday somewhere, imagining her in a bikini on a sun-lit beach somewhere, emerging from the water like a silken goddess, Aphrodite upon the sand…

"Come on, Jay, get a move on!" a shout broke his own personal silence. "The train's gonna leave, get your head out the door!"

When Jay looked back, Unknown Girl had gone. He shook his head like a dog in from the rain and turned to see Nick Dawe, all six foot three inches of him, ambling toward the compartment Teddy and Victoire were in, looking like a golem armed with suitcases. His gelled, blonde hair, purposely styled to look messy, had grown a bit over the summer, but he was much the same person Jay had always known, though his lanky frame had given way to an altogether more broad and muscular shape now he had taken up sports.

"Get in the compartment mate, we'll be able to get first class seats for when Susie Knighton inevitably walks past and drops her wand…not because I'm gonna jinx her or anything... I saw her on the platform, she's definitely got about twenty percent fitter."

Jay rolled his eyes. Some things, of course, did not change over the summer.


	3. Chapter 3 The Early Birds

Chapter 2 – Early Birds

Time rolled by and Jay felt like they had never left each other's company. They spent countless minutes discussing what each of them had been up to over the summer, as the English countryside passed by silently, curving hills of sun-browned grass and quaint Midland villages illuminated by the orange, setting sun.

"You guys heard they're introducing an optional module this year for seventh years?" Nick asked, still peering out of the compartment as Susie Knighton disappeared down the corridor, no doubt concerned that for some reason, she kept dropping her wand when she passed a certain compartment.

Jay looked up from the _Daily Prophet_ article listing the best magical schools in the world (Hogwarts was second, behind Mahoutokoro in Japan, but ahead of Durmstrang of Bulgaria, Beauxbatons from Western France, Avores-Fantasma in Brazil and Salem in the US). "How come? We've already done a full year of NEWT stuff."

"Yeah but apparently it'll just replace Defence Against the Dark Arts if they select you for it." Nick answered, absent-mindedly tapping his seat now that he had no one to ogle. "It's an Auror course I think, to fast-track you for the Ministry. They select students based on their grades from sixth year."

Victoire sighed, pulling out a sheet of paper from the bottom of her bag which confirmed this. "Well, that's me and Teddy out of the running then." The pair of them had been on a romantic night out the day before their sixth year Charms exam and were so late, their grades were capped at Acceptable.

Teddy lifted his head from her shoulder to shake his head. "I reckon a bit of Lupin charm might persuade the panel otherwise."

Victoire handed Jay the paper with the information and he immediately grinned at Teddy. "Not likely, mate. McGonagall gets final say." Teddy's grin immediately vanished and he put his head back onto Victoire.

Minerva McGonagall, headmistress of Hogwarts for nigh-on seventeen years, had proven time and time again to be immune to Lupin's self-professed 'gift of the gab'. She was particularly fond of their group in general; she said they reminded her of older groups that had once studied there. But as she aged, Jay had found her patience wore thinner over the years, and Teddy knew better than to test it.

"What about you, Jay? Keen?" Nick asked.

Jay glanced down at the paper again. He had always seen himself leaning toward the Muggle world of work post-education – science in particular drew his attention most. But the thought of being an Auror had always appealed to the youngster within him.

"Maybe. Says here there's also a test for the selected students too, so it might not even be up to me." Jay mumbled, still scanning the document. "Shit, says we'd learn Patronuses! And Memory Charms…and wordless duelling…and wandless magic theory."

"Yeah, it sounds pretty decent alright. Thing is, Quidditch might mean we don't really have enough time to practice much outside of lessons." Nick pointed out.

All four of them had played for the Gryffindor Quidditch team up to fifth year, but Jay and Victoire had decided then that they'd rather focus on work for OWLs and NEWTs. Teddy and Nick had shown their disgust at this decision, as Quidditch was like living and breathing for them, but Jay had never been so keen on it himself. He fit in to the team because a natural sporting demeanour and general fitness due to Muggle sports meant he was good at a variety of sports, including magical ones. But flying on brooms did not come so easily to someone who only picked it up at twelve, and it was too time consuming to keep practicing flying (as he could not over summer) and do well in lessons.

Teddy and Nick, the vice-captain and captain respectively, would regard it as blasphemy to even think about not putting Quidditch first, of course, but Jay, who'd been invited by them a few times to see professional teams play, had never quite caught on to the same extent. Instead, he had sought to teach them, in his mind, God's gift to the world, football. After a few years, they weren't half-bad either.

"You guys reckon you'll win it this year?" said Victoire, though her expression and wandering eyes suggested she didn't care too much about the response.

"Well," said Nick, turning to face her, both he and Teddy looking suddenly serious, "it all boils down to the Ravenclaw match, as far as I can see. Because, if Slytherin have a far superior points difference to Hufflepuff by December…"

Jay caught Victoire's eye and they grinned at each other, as the other two went into a thirty minute debate about the key points for the season ahead. Just as Nick had actually pulled out his broomstick and was demonstrating a rather risqué new mounting technique (taken from Oscar Namoz, Colombian Chaser in the Spanish Liga team, Zaragoza Felinos), there was a knock at the door and Alexia Carter, one of the two Ravenclaw Carter twins, appeared in the doorway. Nick, looking over his shoulder, immediately tried to spring out of his broom-straddle and look cool in another effort to impress – but he got his legs wrapped round the broom and toppled spectacularly head first into the left seat.

Jay and Teddy roared with laughter as a now-red Nick straightened himself out, but Alexia merely pushed her glasses higher up her nose, reminiscent of an unimpressed librarian, and spoke to Victoire. "Hey Vic! You wanna join us in the girls compartment five doors down? Sienna's telling us all about her new boyfriend – apparently he's an Auror!"

Victoire nodded eagerly as she rose to join her friend. "Definitely! Anything to leave these chimps for a bit." And with that, the two girls had left, leaving Nick looking grumpy.

"Teddy, why in God's name doesn't Victoire introduce us to her fit girlfriends?! I mean, surely it's fifty percent of the reason why you _become_ friends with girls!" he moaned, running a hand through his hair, which had been ever-so-slightly ruffled by his ungainly dismount.

"Well," replied Teddy, grinning, "I seem to recall you're only _friends_ with Vic because you asked her out and she said no, and then me and her got together."

Jay arched an eyebrow. "Oh _really?_" This was news to him. "When did this little drama unfold then?"

Nick folded his arms defensively. "Hey now, I'm pretty sure every guy in Hogwarts asked her out in fourth year, and you'd made no effort whatsoever to say you were interested. Fair game, fair play."

"Actually, our young master Lysander here," said Teddy, nodding to Jay, "didn't ask her out. In fact, they were already friends when I met her."

"Yeah but only because he was already head over heels for Kara by fourth year." Nick smirked. "'_Oh Kara, I want to be with you forever, I want to marry you on a hilltop and lick melted chocolate off your bum! I wanna shag your shagging fanny off!_'"

Jay scowled. He was paraphrasing from Jay the night the three of them had snuck into Professor Slughorn's office before Christmas in fifth year and got into his collection of wizarding liquor. Needless to say, Professors McGonagall and Flitwick were none too impressed when they found them, least of all when Jay confused McGonagall for his then-girlfriend and declared his lust for her.

"Sorry I was going out with a decent girl," retorted Jay, "instead of probably getting an STD from Carlie, the school bike."

Teddy nodded. "That is true, mate. I'm pretty sure she spends all summer at St Mungo's, getting all the nasty stuff out of her from the school year before. I hear the Ministry of Magic is gonna get a magical lock on her knickers for the wider safety of the world at large."

Nick shrugged. "I'll have you know, she was more than 'decent'. She had, and still has, an arse to die for."

"_Literally_, if you didn't double bag it. Or risk something falling off." Teddy quipped.

"Yeah, and she probably was decent; you don't go through that much practice without becoming a good shagger." Jay finished.

"Whatever, you knob-ends are just jealous that I'm closing in on double figures and you're both still on one each." Nick said, stopping to silently count on his fingers. "Yup, I'm on eight."

"Two." said Jay.

"Well, going after the slaggy ones doesn't mean you're- wait, what did you say?" asked Teddy, turning to Jay.

"Two. I'm on two now." Jay couldn't keep the grin from his face as his two friends were overcome with shocked incredulity.

"You waited an hour and half to tell us this?!" shouted Nick, as if he had withheld information about a sick relative.

"Yeah, c'mon mate, we were talking about _lessons_ for twenty five minutes – you didn't think _that_ was more important did you?" added Teddy. "Well, tell us then you bell!"

"Well, for a start, I didn't want to say in front of Vic." pointed out Jay, nodding to the door through which Victoire Weasley had left.

"Why not?" asked Teddy, looking bemused.

"Nothing major, I just…she hopefully doesn't think I'm a notch-on-post guy – and I'm not, but… Anyway, I met her in Portugal, she lived on my gran's road in Lisbon. She goes to Beauxbatons, and she'd just broken up with her boyfriend over there. We kind of related to having just ended a long term thing and…well, one thing led to another and…" Jay trailed off, and the other two grinned knowingly.

"How was she then? And how many times? And what did she look like? Seven? Eight? _Nine?!_" Nick burst out, causing Jay to laugh.

"She was…nice. Maybe if she lived in London or went to Hogwarts, we'd be able to do something long term but-"

Both Teddy and Nick sighed audibly. "Bloody hell," started Teddy, "I know I've a girlfriend and all, but you can _never_ do anything short term without thinking about more, can you?"

Jay shrugged. "Just the way I am." He stretched and put his hands behind his head, leaning back on the seat. "What can I say, I'm ready for marriage, a dog, a Volvo and two kids in the suburbs, me."

Nick arched an eyebrow. "What's a Volvo?"

"Muggle car for middle aged dads with beards and a sex life which equates to twice a week." Teddy answered, having been taught the metaphor by Jay.

"Exactly." agreed Jay, smiling. "Perfect, suburban bliss. She's a high powered lawyer – like the Wizengamot, Nick – or accountant, and brings home the bacon. I take the kids to the park and school and walk the dog and make dinner, then she comes home, we put the kids to bed and have perfect and perfectly boring missionary sex before falling asleep. We'll read the paper in bed together on weekends, of course. And then watch the football. Obviously everyone in the house is a Red. Ahh, that's the life for me."

Teddy and Nick looked at each other, shaking their heads. "Mate," said Nick, "even though you're the youngest out of all us, I'm pretty sure you have a forty five year old inside your head."

"Oh, definitely. I'm just a wise old soul. And if you must know, Nick, I'd say eight overall, knockers nine."

Teddy arched an eyebrow. "Wise is a bit of push."

The rest of the journey went by with Nick and Teddy questioning Jay about his short-lived summer affair with the Portuguese girl, and by the time they'd crossed into Scotland, Victoire had returned from the girls compartment and they all started to put their robes over their muggle clothes.

The castle seemed to loom somewhat more ominously than normal, as they approached the platform and the train slowed. Its lit rooms were stark and bright against the night sky, oddly dark for this time of autumn. Every time Jay caught sight of it, the great billowing towers and turrets, and spiked roofs, and dark stone, it reminded him of just how grand and old the world he spent half his time in was.

A usual throng of noisy students disembarking the train filled the air, no doubt cutting what would have been perfect, still silence in the Scottish Highlands. Jay, Teddy, Victoire and Nick were joined by Niall Finnagan and Charlie Collins, two sixth year Quidditch playing Gryffindors, as they boarded one of the self-pulling carriages.

"Alright, Niall? How's it going Charlie?" offered Jay, hoisting his heavy bag onto the hold of the carriage.

Charlie, a large, brooding ape of a boy, looking sunburnt from a holiday, clashing with his strawberry-blonde hair, as usual did not offer much more than a grunt and a nod. This was his equivalent of a long, impassioned speech of greeting to them, so Jay didn't complain.

"A'right guys? How was the craic over summer?" asked Niall, his Dublin accent harder to make out than normal after a few months of not having heard it.

"Good mate, how about you?" returned Nick.

"Ah, same old, ya know. Been watchin' a bit of the English footy with me dad, trying to get into it a bit like, because Will reckons his old man'll be – well, I best not say anything at the moment, your man told me not to…" he trailed off, looking sheepish for some reason.

Jay didn't question it, however, but instead asked where Will Thomas, usually inseparable from his best friend, was. Niall merely grinned at him, "I can't tell anyone, even yous. But don't worry, you'll know all 'bout it in a sec. You don't know, do ya Chaz?"

Charlie again offered nothing but a shrug and a quick shake of the head. Jay swapped looks with each of Teddy, Victoire and Nick, but they didn't ask again. Picking up speed, they passed the gigantic, enchanted statue that had been erected after the Battle of Hogwarts over sixteen years ago, just in front of the opening gate to the castle. Constructed from goblin obsidian, it shimmered in the moonlight as it morphed every thirty minutes to model random members of the legendary 'Defenders of Hogwarts', as they were known. Currently, it was in the form of Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks – Teddy's parents.

Jay tried not to notice as Victoire squeezed Teddy's hand; he offered a weak smile in return, but stared straight at the statue of his parents lovingly embracing, as if they would come to life if he looked hard enough. As tough as his own life had been regarding his parents, Jay couldn't imagine a harder upbringing than his best friend's childhood. Even being adopted by Harry and Ginny Potter didn't make up for never knowing your true family.

Their carriage pulled up alongside another carrying the Carter twins, Susie Knighton and Maggie Longbottom. Nick suddenly started using words like 'ascertain' and 'ethereal', though not altogether convincingly.

Once they had arrived at Hogwarts, and settled into their seats in front of a rather delicious looking main course of pheasant, parsnips and Yorkshire puddings with gravy, they noted the change in staffing at the head of the Great Hall. The whole room still had its floating candles, high above the four house tables, filled with food and flanked by students, and the enchanted sky hung low, jet black and twinkling with stars. But there was no denying there was a more sombre, serious mood to occasion, above the normal wondrous enchantment of a normal welcoming feast.

As Jay chewed on a particularly succulent pheasant breast, he nodded his friend's attention toward the chairs at the staff table. "Look," he said, swallowing, "there's an extra chair next to McGonagall's."

The headmistress' chair, elegant and grand with carved, mahogany arms, yet understated and simple, was centred at the table. Professor Horace Slughorn, more grey than last year, but still much the same seal-like, rotund Potions professor, listened intently between huge gulps of wine to Professor Trelawney, herself as bedraggled and gloriously dishevelled and messy as ever. She had added another colourful shawl, that looked like it had come from a bin, on top of her numerous charms and necklaces. As she gestured fervently towards the constellations in the enchanted sky, she knocked over a golden goblet of Firewhiskey, spilling it to her right, onto the lap of an annoyed Professor Flitwick.

Two to the left of McGonagall's empty chair sat Professor Hagrid (who gave a cheery wave as he met gazes with them – Victoire and Jay had continued Care of Magical Creatures to NEWT level), Professor Longbottom, Professor Binns (who floated above his chair, looking as bored as Jay felt during his lessons) and the newest teaching staff member, Professor Gloria Silva.

For many years after the famed Battle of Hogwarts, the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher had changed hands many times – unsure and paranoid Ministry interventions leered for years after Voldemort's defeat, and Hogwarts was forced to follow the procedure du jour regarding how best to prepare for 'imminent' future attacks. But, for the past four years, policy had relaxed slightly, as Minister Shacklebolt really hit his stride as leader of the wizarding world, and Professor Silva had managed to settle into the position. Slightly more aged than when she first arrived, she still retained her Spanish beauty and dark, curly hair above stern, predatory eyes. Her penchance for wearing all-grey clothing and her lightly wrinkled features made her appear wolf-like, but there was no denying her skill as a tutor.

But, the seat directly to the left of McGonagall's throne was empty, and new. It was definitely a teacher's chair, randomly pulled from a vacant classroom, but for whom remained yet a mystery.

Nick chewed thoughtfully. "Maybe a new teacher?"

Victoire counted teachers in her head. "No, looks like there's everyone here who should be. They would've announced if anyone was leaving at the end of last year."

"Well, whatever it is, we're about to find out." said Teddy, pointing to the side door next to the staff table, through which Minerva McGonagall emerged, as usual wearing her billowing black robes and pointed hat.

The hall had already gone silent, but she raised a hand anyway. "Good evening, students. I trust you have all enjoyed your supper, and used it as a time to catch up with friends about what you got up to over summer – no doubt lots of study." she said, a smile playing at her lips, causing a ripple of laughter. "But now I would like your attention."

She waved her wand and all the lavish food at the tables disappeared, leaving Teddy cutting thin air with a now-non-existent knife and fork.

"As I'm sure you're aware, many years ago in this very room, a great evil was vanquished and the sanctity of our world, for both us and Muggles, was saved, by the actions of a few, brave people." she turned to nod toward Professors Longbottom, Hagrid, Slughorn, Flitwick and Trelawney. Jay saw further down the table, Albus Potter and Rose Weasley, Victoire's cousins, blushed. James Potter, slightly older, grinned at his friends. This often happened when events surrounding the legendary Harry Potter and his showdown with Voldemort was mentioned.

"To celebrate those who lost their lives or health in performing these actions, we at Hogwarts have decided to commemorate and mark the occasion with a special event. This has been in planning for many years – some at the Ministry of Magic erred on the cautious side about such actions, claiming that 'there was no need to dredge up old memories which may only cause to remind us of tragedy'." she stated pointedly, likely suppressing the urge to roll her eyes.

"But, with the express support of the Minister for Magic himself, Hogwarts' good friend, Kingsley Shacklebolt, this proposed commemoration has been finally allowed to go ahead. To explain more about what this may entail for you all, I will ask Dean Thomas, one of those valiant students who bravely fought to end the tyranny of Lord Voldemort."

There was a quiet but noticeable rush of excitement, as McGonagall gestured toward the door through which she emerged. However, any noise was quelled when Dean Thomas entered the Hall. Tall and dark, though a little more wrinkled and aged than the photos and paintings of the Battle suggested to Jay, he was also missing his left forearm. The obsidian statue did not depict _that_ when it changed to show him.

Thomas strode quickly to the staff table, shaking hands warmly with Professors Longbottom and Hagrid, before embracing McGonagall in a stiff hug. He then turned to address the awed students that sat in front of him.

"Erm…Hi students. Wow, it feels weird being the one giving a speech up here. I spent so long sitting where you lot are now and listening to Professors drone on and on and on, when all you want to do is tell them to shut up so you can go to-"

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat, as a ripple of laughter echoed around the Great Hall.

"Right, er, sorry." continued Thomas. "Shouldn't go slagging off the staff, now, should I? Well, I guess I'll get straight to it. One of the things that was so damaged by the events of sixteen years ago was the relationship between Muggles, Muggle-born witches and wizards, and everyone else within the magical world. Of course, that's not to say every pure or half blood witch or wizard out there is or was prejudiced. But the connections between the three, that make our world go round, were things that You-Know- sorry, _Voldemort_ –despised and sought to weaken."

"If we do nothing to strengthen these bonds, or repair what he damaged, then our victory will only be temporary. Everything the people in front of you, the parents of lots of you guys, fought for, will be undermined if we don't try and improve on that, risking just another repeat of some close minded people herding other close minded people and trying to impose their will on others. So, we have decided to try, as much as possible to integrate aspects of culture amongst all of us."

He pulled out his wand and aimed it at the podium. "Don't worry, Professor, you were a good Transfiguration teacher." he grinned, and muttering some quiet incantation, promptly turned the owl-shaped stand into a round, white football. Bending down to pick it up, he again addressed the students.

"I'm sure a lot of you know what this is. And I'm sure a lot of you don't. And that is exactly why, for the first time in the history of Hogwarts, there will be instead of Quidditch, an Inter-House football tournament running throughout the year." There was a sudden eruption of noise at this announcement. Jay felt greatly excited about the idea of being able to play competitive football again, but this was eroded by the looks of disgust on Teddy and Nick's faces.

"No Quidditch?! No _Quidditch?!" _Teddy burst. Nick looked lost for words, but showed his objection by vehemently shaking his head.

But Dean Thomas lifted his good arm, almost apologetically, and the crowd was again quelled. When a national hero requests silence, even angry students listened, Jay supposed.

"I understand why this will be disappointing to a lot of you, but you shouldn't worry – there will be a fortnight of regular Quidditch Inter-House matches at the end of the school year in June. The only change is that the sporting event that runs throughout the main course of the year will be football instead."

Jay saw Teddy and Nick relax slightly, and he grinned at them. "Reckon you'd be up for an Inter-House footy thing before Quidditch starts?"

Teddy was about to answer, when Dean Thomas started talking again, bouncing the football absent-mindedly. "Each house may submit a single team, comprised of six players and five substitutes. In the interest of inclusion - the reason behind the tournament in the first place – at least one starting player and two substitutes must be girls. You'll play each other house team twice, leading to six matches by March, and the winner of the league will be crowned then."

Again, there was an emerging amount of excited chatter, as the details were taken in by the students, and again, Dean Thomas had to quieten them to continue. "More details will be given to house football captains, who themselves will be chosen next week – in order to put yourself in for the running as house captain, you'll need to sign up at the end of your tables. Remember, early birds and all that!"

This seemed to signal a mad rush from all four tables; Jay barely registered that football was more popular amongst his peers than he thought, given the number of people clamouring to sign up for captaincy. Professor McGonagall was shouting sternly for order, but Jay had already run to a small, red covered book opened to its first page, out-muscling two younger Gryffindor's to the only pen.

Much of the book seemed to be empty, and there were only five lined spaces – evidently, only five applicants per house captain position were permitted. Jay fleetingly thought he might be first to sign up, but after looking properly, he noted with annoyance that someone had already taken the first space. Written in irritatingly neat letters, '_Sienna Delfino'_ had beaten Jay to it.


End file.
